t its base. No doubt these tribes were sincere, and
positive in proportion to their ignorance,--the idol is but the type of
the worshiper's intelligence. In visiting the Temple of Hanan, at
Canton, we find to-day, a number of "sacred" hogs wallowing in dirt. The
Parsee still worships fire; the uneducated Japanese bows before snakes
and foxes; the Hindoo deifies cows and monkeys. Why should we wonder,
then, that the Toltecs worshiped idols a thousand years ago?

While looking upon the strange stone images, large and small, in the
museum of the national capital, which the ancient people who possessed
this land erected and worshiped, one cannot avoid forming a very low
estimate of such a race. Their deities were not only hideous, but were
made in the crudest possible manner, without one correct line of anatomy
or physiognomy, and represented utterly impossible beings in equally
impossible attitudes. They are, however, of growing interest, and
invaluable as mementoes of a vanished race.

After returning to Silao, we resume our journey southward on the main
line of the Mexican Central Railroad, crossing the State of Guanajuato
through a fertile and well-cultivated region, in strong contrast to much
of the country left behind. At Irapuato, an unimportant, dingy,
dilapidated little town, nineteen miles from Silao, is the junction of
the trunk line and a branch road to Guadalajara, which city we shall
visit on our return trip northward. Irapuato is pleasantly remembered by
all travelers in Mexico, being noted for the fact that fresh ripe
strawberries are sold on the railway trains by the inhabitants every day
in the year. Strangers never pass this point without enjoying a
strawberry picnic, as it may be called, every one purchasing more or
less. Even the train-hands would rebel were they not permitted to tarry
long enough to enjoy the one luxury of the place. The delicious berries
are supplied by native men and women with wild-looking, swarthy faces,
who hand them to the travelers in neat, plain baskets which hold nearly
two quarts each. Basket and strawberries together are sold for
twenty-five cents. The top layer of the fruit is carefully selected, and
most tempting to look upon, the berries being shrewdly "deaconed,"--a
fact of which the purchaser becomes aware when he has consumed the first
portion. However, all are eatable and most grateful to the taste. Human
nature is very much the same in trade, whether exhibited in Fan